


A Robin Builds a Nest

by ShyestOfHearts



Category: Batman - All Media Types, DCU
Genre: But Damian is a teen dad, Minor Character Death, No Smut, SO, They are an original character, but it isn't written out, you can kinda guess what happened
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-07-07
Updated: 2020-07-07
Packaged: 2021-03-04 17:53:43
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,118
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25120450
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ShyestOfHearts/pseuds/ShyestOfHearts
Summary: The batfamily had learned to expect a lot of things over the years, as their lives were hardly ever "normal." Damian being a father at fifteen, however, was not something they had ever considered.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 22





	A Robin Builds a Nest

**Author's Note:**

> TW: Character Death (but they are an original character, and I don't go into detail of their death)

Damian Wayne is dead. That was certainly not what Damian had expected to read in Gotham News, particularly because if he were dead he wouldn’t have been reading it. As he reread the headline a few times he got the vague feeling that even though he wasn’t dead now, the moment he returned home he would be. 

At only fifteen years old, he had left home to investigate suspicious activities that specifically had to do with himself. He hadn’t wanted his family to get involved if his suspicions turned out to be true, so he left without a word to them. In hindsight that may not have been the best decision with a family so paranoid as his, but he needed them to not get involved. He needed to face this himself.

Damian was tired of clones, he had decided that a long time ago. Being murdered by your own clone tended to do that, and then to find out another clone had been made and was running around? He wanted to handle the situation as discreetly and quickly as he could. This clone had seemed determined to tarnish Damian’s reputation, taking on Damian’s name and going about doing as they pleased. For a while Damian couldn’t fathom why. Why not just face him directly? Why not battle him to try to take his place?

The clone had done many things quite out of Damian’s character. He lashed out at pushy reporters and strangers rather than respond with cold silence or disinterest. That one Damian honestly couldn’t fault him for, admittedly, but it wasn’t good for his nor his family’s reputation. He could practically hear his brother Timothy griping about PR. The clone had also begun to create a similar reputation to his father’s, particularly in the playboy aspect. Damian was not fond of that, his prior reputation suited him just fine as it did manage to keep some people away.

Additionally the clone was portraying him as rude and all around immature, something Damian was not fond of considering the amount of time he had put into making sure adults did not regard him as a foolish child.The rude part was not completely farfetched. Towards the end though, it seemed to change. The clone began to behave more politely, seemed to smile more despite their expression looking almost...sad. 

Damian had received the answer to his questions after finally tracking the clone down and confronting them. They were not a perfect clone, by any means. Something had gone wrong, and they had only been given six months to live, leaving bitterness to settle heavy in their chest. They were resentful that Damian got to live a full life while they were left with no one to even know they existed. They wanted to leave an impact on the world to at least be remembered.

“It isn’t fair.”

The words repeated in Damian’s head, dull green eyes masking pain and terror flashing in his peripheral vision, though if he turned to look there would be nothing there. There never was.

“Why couldn’t I live? Why was I doomed to die before I could do anything worthwhile and you were able to keep going like I never existed?”

He ran a hand through his hair with a heavy sigh. Damian did what he could, he kept his clone company through the end of it all. 

\---

“It wasn’t your fault though,” the clone had sighed, much to Damian’s surprise. “You didn’t know. It wasn’t fair of me to do this to you.” A tiredness weighed heavy on the clone’s form, their breathing growing labored as time went on. “I still had things I wanted to do,” they whispered, and Damian inhaled sharply. 

He was used to death, being raised as an assassin tended to do that. He was used to the light fading from people’s eyes, used to the shuddering breaths as lives came to an end. Damian had learned how to detach himself, to not feel for the person in front of him. It didn’t help, he couldn’t this time. As he peered into familiar green eyes, he saw all the differences between them.

“Do you regret any of it?” Damian found himself asking, only to get the tiniest hint of a smile in response.

“No. I am sorry for my intentions of harming you at first, but I don’t regret anything I did beyond that. I will not be sorry for living, only for the fact that I won’t be remembered.”

“You will be remembered,” Damian insisted, quickly enough the clone quirked an eyebrow.

“Everyone thinks I am you, which technically I suppose I am. You will be the one remembered in the end, and even if you remember me it will not matter. My existence didn’t mean much.”

“What is your name?”

The clone blinked, eyebrows furrowing as he regarded Damian with a mixture of confusion and suspicion. “You know I do not have one, I am merely a clone. A rip-off of your existence.”

“What is your name?” Damian repeated, more forcefully. The clone stared at him for a long moment before he seemed to realize what Damian meant. 

“Asher. My name is Asher.”

For the first time in a long while, Damian smiled. “Your existence means plenty to me, Asher, and I will make sure you are remembered.”

“Tell only people you trust, otherwise it could make for a lot of issues,” Asher smiled weakly, eyes a bit lighter, though the pain was more intense now. “And find Rayna for me, but don’t tell her about me, please.”

Damian found himself agreeing just before those green eyes slid closed and his chest stilled with a last, raspy breath.

\---

He assumed that Asher was the reason he was now presumed dead. Just when he had been about to do some damage control on everything the boy had gotten up to. Another sigh. As frustrating as it was, he didn’t fault Asher. The fear of death can have a rather large impact on people after all.

Just as he had with all devices over time these past three months, he discarded the device he had read the news on, just in case. He had already used the device for the allotted hours he allowed himself on each new device, he didn’t need people tracking him after all. Though considering everyone now seemed to think he was dead it was rather unlikely that would be an issue. He figured it was better to take the precautions anyway.

He needed to wait for things to blow over to reveal that he wasn’t actually dead, otherwise there would be too many questions raised to lie his way out of.


End file.
